Dead-Stick, Gear-Up Landing In Fog, But No Injuries

If you're looking for a cab at a foreign airport and end up riding with an unlicensed jitney driver by mistake, there's a good chance you'll still make it to your hotel in one piece, and you might even save a few bucks. But a family from New York booked a charter flight out of the Dominican Republic to get back home in 2009, and wound up as passengers of a guy who holds an ATP, but wasn't certified to fly charters.

WECT-TV reports that 40-year-old Jose Camillo Joga told the family that when they landed in Wilmington for fuel and to check in with customs, they should not say anything about having paid for the flight, but instead claim to be friends of the plane's owner.

But a more in-depth explanation was required after Joga could make the landing in fog and a 50-foot ceiling, lost power in the left engine during his third go-around, and lost the right engine while being vectored for his fourth approach. That left no hydraulic pressure to get the Citation II's gear down, (similar aircraft pictured,) and no time to do it manually.

NTSB says Joga used GPS to aim the plane for the intersection of the airport's two runways, saw the lights while descending through 50 feet AGL, and made a dead-stick, gear-up landing. The plane suffered what the NTSB called "damage to the underside of the fuselage and punctures of the pressure vessel," but there were no injuries.

The board determined that the two engines quit from fuel exhaustion 14 and 20 minutes, respectively, after the plane reached the vicinity of the airport, suggesting nowhere near minimum required IFR reserves. The NTSB's final report notes Joga told investigators he'd arrived at the airport with 1,000 pounds of fuel remaining, which should have been enough for 55 minutes of operation. He also apparently claimed to be operating a personal flight under Part 91.

In October of last year, Joga pleaded guilty to making false statements to a federal agency. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to three years probation. It might be time to take up driving a cab. Or a jitney.

FMI: http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/AccidentReports/ujwjmia0ijojptr2iefdoea01/U01052012120000.pdf